Drama

The Drama department at George Salter Academy consists of a highly skilled team of practitioners who are equally passionate about the educational value of Drama in giving all young people a voice to express themselves. Drama is a very popular subject at the Academy that offers different pathways in Key Stage 4 and 5 depending on the preferred learning style of our students.

Our Key Concepts

Drama Intent Statement

The subject is delivered within two bespoke spaces including the Green Room Theatre, with a 200 raked seating that is fully equipped with a professional lighting rig and sound system. There is also a more intimate Drama studio adjacent to the theatre that is used for smaller scale projects and performances.

Whole School Productions

  • 2016- Les Miserables and Grease
  • 2017- West Side Story.
  • 2018- Sister Act and Chicago
  • 2019- High School Musical
  • 2021- All Together Now!
  • 2022- Annie
  • 2023- Hairspray

Excellence in Performing Art (EPA) Scholarship

George Salter Academy can provide 20 places per year for students who have an aptitude for Music, Dance or Drama.

Contact

Mrs J. Clark (Head of Drama), email: [email protected]

“Drama is a subject where you can open up, share your ideas and create something unforgettable.”

“I am inspired through Drama and it helps me when I have had a bad day. The teachers help to bring us together to perform and enhance our ideas. The department brings out the true personalities of all the students.”

“The GSA Drama department offers excellent opportunities to all students such as performing to a live audience and taking trips to watch other performances.”

Drama offers an interesting range of topics and styles of Drama in Key Stage 3 to encourage students to explore the subject through the eyes of an actor, director and designer. In designing our curriculum we have aimed to provide many different ways of exploring drama through devising, scripted and technical aspects of the subject.

Careful choices have been made about the issues and ideas explored through lessons so that they reflect what is happening in the world around us and allow all students to become critical audience members and engaging performers.

For every topic, a homework booklet has been created to develop literacy skills and encourage participants to evaluate the work produced. Typical topics that you can expect to study include:

Year 7

New Beginnings, The Fog, Introduction to Practitioners, Our Teacher is a Troll, The Demon Headmaster, Devising from Stimulus

Year 8

Behind the Scenes, Darkwood Manor, Bringing Texts to Life, Staging Script and Practitioners, Critiquing Live Theatre

Year 9

Devising from Stimulus, Performing Scripted Material-Monologues, duologues and group work, Exploration of DNA.

GCSE Drama

Students can also study GCSE Drama which focuses upon developing a breadth of subject knowledge within the performance strategies, mediums and elements of drama, as well as developing students understanding and interpretation of topics, scripts, characters and performance appreciation skills.

GCSE Drama will engage students through the use of their vivid imaginations, focus on practical work which reflects modern theatre and develop skills that will support progression to further study drama and a wide range of other subjects. The qualification has three components, one that focuses on devising, one that focuses on performing in or designing for a performance from a text and one that focuses on practical understanding of a performance text. Students will be assessed through a combination of internal moderation, live examiner marking and external marking of their written paper. The GCSE Drama components are as follows:

Component One: Devising – Students will create and develop a devised piece from a stimulus. They will analyse and evaluate the devising process and performance through the development of a written and/or oral portfolio of between 1500-2000 words.

Component Two: Performance from Text – Students will either perform in and/or design for two key extracts from a play that will be presented to an external examiner.

Component Three: Theatre Makers in Practice (Written Paper) – Students will complete a 1 hour 45 mins written paper based on a play they have studied and a theatre production they have watched.

With Cultural Capital Opportunities:

2018-2019

  • Backstage tour at Birmingham Rep
  • Splendid’s Dr Faustus at St Michael’s School  
  • English and Drama Cross Curricular Blood Brothers, Birmingham Hippodrome
  • National Youth Theatre auditions

BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Performing Arts

The Pearson BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Performing Arts is for students who want to acquire applied knowledge and skills through vocational contexts by studying professionals’ work and processes used, the skills and techniques used in different roles, and how to contribute to the creation of a performance in either a performance or non-performance role as part of their Key Stage 4 learning.

Component 1: Internally Assessed   
This component provides students with a broad experience of the performing arts within the role of an actor or designer.  Students will have the opportunity to watch at least three theatrical performances and develop insight into what it means to be a professional performer.  They will produce a portfolio of work to show an understanding of different practitioner approaches that have been explored through practical workshops. 

Component 2: Internally Assessed
This component focuses on the application of skills and techniques used within theatre.  Students wiill develop their engagement with scripts to prepare and perform a performance based on their insight into different styles and approaches demonstrated within professional works.  They will work closely together to provide feedback to one another and make changes based on how they can improve. 

Component 3: Externally Assessed

This component provides learners with the opportunity to use the knowledge, skills and techniques they have harnessed in components one and two to create an original devised performance in response to a brief and stimulus.  They will work in small groups to generate practical ideas and develop, rehearse and refine their devised piece that will be externally assessed. 

At KS5, the Drama Department offers several courses. Please view our dedicated Sixth Form section for more information on the courses available.